SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM — Hilchos Lashon Hara 10:9-10
R’ Yaakov Yosef Herman was a great American Torah pioneer. In All for the Boss, R’ Yaakov Yosef’s daughter Ruchoma Shain paints a picture of a man whose heart and home had a place for every Jew, and who feared no one but Hashem. R’ Yaakov Yosef would do anything to help a Jew in need or to help someone come closer to Torah. At the same time, he stood ready to defend the honor of Torah and to ensure that the halachah was not trampled upon.
He lived in America in the early 1900’s, a time when many who viewed themselves as observant Jews sometimes did things in public that clearly were contrary to Torah. R’ Yaakov Yosef did not hesitate to point out their error, even if it meant becoming the object of scorn and insults.
We mention this because R’ Yaakov Yosef was the kind of person described by the Chofetz Chaim in today’s segment:
If the speaker is someone known to everyone as a man who does not show favoritism; whatever he says when his friend is not present, he would say in his presence; he fears no one; and he is renowned as someone who speaks only the truth …
In the previous segment we learned that when speaking lashon hara l’to’eles, the speaker must address a group of at least three people so that no one will suspect him of lying or of trying to conceal the report from its subject. In today’s segment we learn an exception to this rule. If the speaker is the fearless, truthful person described above, then no one will suspect him of lying or trying to hide his intentions. Therefore, he is permitted to relate the information even to one or two people.
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky, a great Torah leader of recent times, was renowned as a man of truth. When he was past the age of 90, someone asked him if he could think of a particular zechus (merit) that earned him long life. R’ Yaakov replied, “Never did I knowingly say an untruth.”
As a young man in Russia, R’ Yaakov was ordered to appear before an army officer for possible induction. When R’ Yaakov stated why he felt himself exempt from army service, the officer accused him of lying. R’ Yaakov replied, “I have never lied in my entire life.” His words were said with such conviction that the officer exempted him.
Even a non-Jew believed the words of a man who would speak nothing but the truth. Certainly, a Jew would believe the words of such a man and not suspect him of distorting the truth.
IN A NUTSHELL
Someone whose integrity is beyond reproach can relate lashon hara l’to’eles even to one or two people.
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